Skid row in post-earthquake Chrstchurch

Bleak, cold Christchurch garage advertised for $120 a week - bed included

Stories like this are becoming uniquitous in New Zealand, especially in Auckland with its housing bubble and earthquake-ravaged Christchurch.

You can blame greedy landlords as much as you like but this never went on like this when times were good. We have had economic downturns before but they never gave rise to homelessness on the scale we have seen ever since 2008.

This speaks, most of all, of social and economic collapse, in the case of Christchurch further compounded by the 2011 earthquakes from which Christchurch has not, and never will, recover.

All the responses to this are ambulances at the bottom of the cliff financed by moving funds around or borrowing money that will not, and cannot be repaid.

The American context is given here by James Howard Kunstler.

People don't like objective, institutional analysis but prefer to blame the “other side”.

Stuff

7 June, 2019

It's about 12 square metres, uninsulated, with no windows or smoke alarms and visible gaps under the doors.

This concrete Christchurch garage has been advertised as a room to rent for $120 a week, including power, a bed and use of the facilities in the house.

A tenancy advisory service said it was an all too common example of people "preying on the vulnerability of tenants".

The Facebook Marketplace listing for the Edgeware garage, "[five minutes] walk to city centre, close to [The] Palms mall", said the successful tenant could use the courtyard and house facilities. The rent included power, storage and a queen bed, while food was BYO.

Photos on the listing show a dark and dingy garage with uncovered concrete floors and walls, a mattress, some shelves and a small door with many holes in it. Texts to the advertiser, who did not own the property, confirmed someone could use the garage as a bedroom. Three flatmates lived in the house.

A Stuff went to view the Barbadoes St garage, and found three 1-metre long strips of carpet had been laid on the floor under the bed. No insulation or smoke alarms were visible. There were gaps around both the garage and single access doors. Stuff was told the previous garage tenant had moved to Auckland.

The tenants said it was in "hot demand" but would consider dropping the rent to $100.

When approached for comment, one of the tenants said he was unaware the garage did not meet the legal requirements as a habitable space.

"I wasn't aware of that, but I don't feel too concerned in any way.

"We're not here to please you mate, we're just offering you something that's cheap, handy to the city and it's no concern. I've had my mate living in there before."

He said bringing the garage up to standard would be a "simple fix", but did not confirm whether he would make the changes. 

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Chris

"It's not too much of a big deal, it's only a little garage," he said.  

Property manager Shona Saunders said she was unaware the tenants were subletting the garage.

No complaints had been raised and there were no signs it was being sublet following a recent inspection, she said.

"I'll certainly be following the garage situation now that it has been brought to my attention [and] if this is the case then we will be taking all steps that's absolutely possible to do according to the Tenancy Act."

She confirmed the tenants would be in breach of their tenancy agreement if they were subletting the garage.

Tenants Protection Association (TPA) manager Penny Arthur said at least once a week she was alerted to a property for rent in Christchurch that did not meet legal requirements, usually sleepouts and garages. 

Since July 1, 2016, landlords have been required under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) to install smoke alarms and insulation. From July 1, ceiling and underfloor insulation will be compulsory in all rental homes where it is reasonably practicable to install. Photoelectric smoke alarms – which are more effective at detecting slow smouldering fires – will also need to be installed within 3 metres of each bedroom door, or in every room where a person sleeps.

Christchurch City Council head of building consenting Robert Wright said bedrooms had to comply with building regulations. A garage not converted for domestic living was uninhabitable. 

Arthur said it was "frustrating" to see spaces not meeting RTA requirements being advertised as accommodation.

"There's a lot of sleepouts popping up that don't comply," she said. 

"While property managers and landlords are saying there's a lot of these around and they get rented out this way, it doesn't actually make it OK under the law."

Tenants inquiring about not having their own council rubbish bins or sharing power meters with other tenants were flags the property was unsuitable for a separate tenancy. 

"It'd be great to get some of those cases through the tenancy tribunal so that there's a bit of a precedent set so we can start to set some standards for what is and isn't OK.

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The "It preys on that vulnerability of tenants that if you rock the boat eventually [they will] be the one who loses out."

In April 2017, Steven Ian Cameron, 50, died when a Mackenzie Ave, Christchurch garage he was living in went up in flames. That landlord said they were unaware Cameron was using the garage as accommodation. In his findings at the time, Coroner David Robinson said Cameron's death should pose as a warning to the dangers of using a garage for accommodation.

Arthur said she had messaged the person who listed the Christchurch garage for rent on Facebook, but had not heard back. 

"I want to know what kind of person he thinks he wants living in his garage."...